Is proxy vote in regional Parliaments constitutional? Commentary on the Constitutional Court's Judgment num. 65/2022, of May 31, concerning the appeal for legal protection num. 2388-2018. (BOE num. 159, of July 4, 2022)

Abstract

The decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court here commented raises the constitutionality of the proxy vote admitted by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Catalonia, in an appeal against the admission of the delegation of two deputies who are voluntarily outside Spain and on whom an arrest warrant is addressed. The doctrine contained in this decision –which considers applicable to the autonomous parliaments the personality and indelegability of the vote established for deputies and senators by Article 79.3 EC, while allowing exceptions to safeguard other constitutional values deserving of protection– imposes conditions for the delegation to be consistent with the Constitution: only the casting of the vote should be delegated and not the decision on the meaning of the vote; the Member who delegates must have made a clear statement on it in advance. These conditions make delegation virtually impossible in cases where the personality of the vote may be excepted and in the framework of the legislative procedure. The significance of the judgment lies in the extension of the doctrine contained in it to other regional parliaments that also allow the vote by delegation.